The present invention is directed generally to a contact lens disinfector unit, and more particularly to a disinfector unit which includes an improved unit design by which a lens case containing the contact lenses may be brought into heat exchange relationship with the heating block of the disinfector unit.
Contact lenses, both of the hard and soft type, often must be sterilized before they are suitble for use. To this end, each pair of contact lenses is inserted into a separate container or lens case which may also have receptacles therein for holding the right and left lenses spaced apart so they do not become confused. These containers are commonly referred to as lens cases. A quantity of disinfecting liquid is then administered to the lens case and the case is placed in engagement with a heating block for heating the liquid to a temperature sufficient to destroy harmful bacteria. After the disinfecting temperature has been reached and maintained for a sufficient period of time, the lens case and the contact lenses contained therein are permitted to cool to enable removal of the lenses and insertion upon the eye of a wearer.
Contact lens disinfector units of the prior art have been of varied design and have generally included a hinged cover and a contact lens case receiving recess having a bottom surface formed by the heating block. In order to place a contact lens case into such a disinfector unit, it is first necessary to lift the hinged cover to expose the lens case receiving recess, place the lens case into the recess to cause the bottom of the case to engage the top surface of the heating block, and then close the hinged cover. For removing the lens case from the disinfector unit, it is necessary to lift the hinged cover, manually grab the lens case, and then reclose the hinged cover. While disinfector units of this variety have proved to be generally successful, the hinged cover arrangement of these disinfector units have not maximized the convenience to the user.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that there is a need in the art for a new and improved contact lens disinfector unit which is more convenient to use. More specifically, the disinfector unit of the present invention is designed to allow the contact lens case to be removed from engagement with the heating block of the disinfector unit without requiring that the lens case be touched. To this end, the lens case is displaced from the environment of the heating block to a position externally of the unit to facilitate rapid cooling of the lens case and associated lenses before removal of the lenses from the case.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved contact lens disinfector unit design wherein the contact lens case may be displaced from engagement with the heating block without being touched.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved contact lens disinfector unit which includes a swinging tray and a novel pivotally mounting structure which adapts the tray to swing between a first position for bringing the contact lens case into heat exchange relation with the heating block and a second position for displacing the contact lens case from the heating block and disinfector unit, while maintaining the tray in assembled, captive relation with the housing.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such a contact lens disinfector unit which further includes a means for assisting or urging the swinging tray towards its open position to assure that the contact lens case will be displaced from the heating block without having to be touched by the operator.
The invention therefore provides a disinfector unit for contact lenses contained within a lens case, wherein the unit includes a housing, a heating block within the housing for heating the lens case and contact lenses therein to a specified temperature, and tray means having a lens case receiving opening to receive and support the lens case. The tray means is pivotally mounted to the housing and arranged to swing between an open position disposing the opening outside of the housing to permit a lens case to be placed therein, and a closed position disposing the opening adjacent to the heating block within the housing to bring the lens case into heat transfer relation with the heating block.